According to this report from NTV Uganda, Sweden’s Finance Minister Andes Borg was in Uganda on a visit to highlight Swedish investment oportunities in East Africa. While there, he addressed the problems that Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act posed for Sweden’s foreign aid and investment in Uganda:

We are reviewing our own aid program with Uganda, and obviously this is a factor that has to be taken in to account. It is not a posative factor but a major problem that we will have to deal with. But there is also in the Swedish aid to Uganda very important areas supporting the civil society, improving health care and the research and development that are important. So we see this as a Swedish long term commitment to a partnership with Uganda. But this is a political issue that is quite problemantic in the medium and short term, I must say.

…The problems that we have from a Swedish human right perspective on this issue, and the legislation is very problematic from our perspective. And I do think that there are also some broader economic risks, not only when it comes to aid cooperation but also when it comes to tourism and investment where this is a reputation risk for Uganda.

Sweden provides about US$10 million in aid to Uganda. Shortly after the Anti-Homosexuality Bill was proposed in 2009, Sweden warned Uganda that the bill was placing Sweden’s foreign aid at risk. In 2012 Sweden suspended a portion of its aid to Uganda, as did Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Britain, following revelations that $15 million in aid from those countries had been diverted to private bank accounts of officials in Prime Minister Patrick Amama Mbabazi’s office. Britian’s cut in foreign aid was later extended to the entire Ugandan government. On Thursday, Uganda’s Parliament cleared Mbabazi of wrongdoing despite lingering questions about the scandal.

Norway, Demark and the Netherlands, which collectively had provided $27 million in aid to Uganda, have announced that they are cutting aid to the Ugandan government. On Friday, the World Bank announced that it was putting on hold a $90 million loan to Uganda’s health service. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the State Department is reviewing its relationship with Uganda. The U.S. currently gives more that $486 million in bilateral aid. On Wednesday, the U.S. Ambassador to Kampala said that the U.S. would deny visas to Ugandans who “incite violence, people who propagate hate, (and) who have used political violence.”

Princess Victoria presented the Gay of the Year award to an author who wrote about the 1980s AIDS crisis.

Taking to the stage to ABBA’s Dancing Queen, the 35-year-old, presented the award to Jonas Gardell, whose book and TV series, Never Dry Tears Without Gloves, sparked debate on the treatment of gay men during the onset of the AIDS crisis in the 1980s.

Her surprise appearance earned her a standing ovation.

The book’s title refers to the instructions given to a nurse as she wiped tears off a dying man’s face. When it was published, is set off a wave of soul-searching in a country which prides itself on its tolerance and compassion.

Aid to the Ugandan prime minister’s office was frozen in August, following allegations of fraud, while an independent forensic audit was ordered. Greening has now suspended other bilateral aid, which is spent through Uganda‘s financial systems, known as direct financial aid.

…”Britain has frozen all UK aid spent through the Ugandan government. This is a result of initial evidence emerging from our ongoing forensic audit of the office of the prime minister, which indicates aid money may have been misused,” said DfID. “We are extremely concerned by these preliminary findings and we will assess the decision further when we have considered the full findings of the report. Unless the government of Uganda can show that UK taxpayers’ money is going towards helping the poorest people lift themselves out of poverty, this aid will remain frozen and we will expect repayment and administrative and criminal sanctions.”

Auditors discovered that joint foreign aid funding from Ireland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden to the tune of â‚¬12 million (£10 million, US$15 million) have mysteriously shown up in the private bank accounts of officials in prime minister Patrick Amama Mbabazi’s office. Those countries and Britain suspended its aid to the Prime Minister’s office in August, and Britain has now expanded that freeze to include the entire Ugandan government. Britain was due to provide £11.1 million (US$17.7 million) in direct aid between now and the end of March. Total bilateral aid for the year was set for £98.9 million (US$157 million), but it’s not clear how much of that bilateral aid has already been spent.

Speaking to Swedish Radio news, development minister Gunilla Carlsson says that she thinks the new law is “appalling”.

“I’m doubly disappointed”, she says, “partly because Uganda is a country with which we have had long-term relations and where I thought and hoped we had started to share common values and understanding. The law itself is wretched, but it’s also offensive to see how the Ugandans choose to look at how we see things, and the kind of reception we get when we bring up these issues”

We’ve just been informed that minutes ago, the Swedish Riksdag (Parliament) passed a reformed marriage bill that includes same sex marriage. The measure passed 261-22, with 18 abstentions. The change will go in effect in one month.

People currently in registered partnerships will have the option to retain their partnership, marry anew, or sending in their partnership paperwork to have them converted into legal marriages. Sweden first enacted registered partnerships in 1995, making it the third country in the world to formally recognize same-sex relationships.

The coalition government of Sweden has been dancing around a way to bring about a change in marriage law to allow for same-sex couples without offending one part of their coalition, the Christian Democrats. Now a solution appears to have been found.

Sweden’s four-party centre-right government has been split on the issue, with the junior partner Christian Democrats also opposed to the use of the word “marriage” for homosexual unions.

However the three other parties, the conservative Moderates, the Liberals and the Centre Party, are in favour of a gender neutral law that eliminates the current reference to marriage as something between a man and a woman.

The opposition Social Democrats, the country’s biggest party, also support such a law, and together the parties would garner enough support to adopt the legislation in parliament.

The process will be for the coalition government to propose a marriage bill that does not have gender-neutrality and for the parties that support marriage equality to amend that bill. The Prime Minister predicts passage and implementation by next year:

“The coalition government has agreed that we will present a basic marriage bill to parliament. The three parties in favour of a gender neutral marriage law will then present an accompanying motion seeking to have such a law in place by May 1, 2009,” Reinfeldt said.

Sweden was one of the first countries to allow for Registered Partnerships in 1995. They will be the seventh nation to offer same-sex marriage rights:

Proponent’s for California’s Proposition 8 have brought over a preacher from Sweden, who they say was jailed for preaching against homosexuality as a warning of what could happen in California if Prop 8 fails. However, a radio journalist from Sweden reports that the preacher’s back story isn’t true.

[T]he “Yes on 8” campaign has brought over from Sweden a pastor named Ake Green, who a few years ago was sentenced to a month in prison under Sweden’s law banning hate speech, because he gave a sermon denouncing homosexuality. Mr. Green’s testimony was featured in a 90-minute “Yes on 8” satellite simulcast that was recently downlinked to 170 churches throughout the state.

“He is a symbol of what is ahead,” said the Rev. Jim Garlow, the senior pastor of Skyline Church in the San Diego area, a leading organizer of the “Yes” ranks.

The Times report implied that Ã…ke Green was jailed for his beliefs. Anti-gay activists often assert that he was actually jailed for preaching against homosexuality. Swedish radio journalist Tor Billgren, who has covered the story, wrote to Box Turtle Bulletin to explain what really happened:

The Swedish pastor Ã…ke Green was sentenced to prison by the lower court, but acquitted by the two higher courts including the Supreme Court. He has NOT been jailed. The only thing the Ã…ke Green-case proves is that religious freedom is strongly protected, even in a country with hate speech laws such as Sweden.

The case proves that it is OK to preach that homosexuality is a “cancerous tumour in the entire society.” It’s also OK to say that AIDS is “a consequence of homosexuality.”

In 2007 the Supreme Court also acquitted a Christian blogger, who was prosecuted for a discussion on his blog, where a blog commenter stated that homosexuals should be hanged upon stakes as punishment and a warning. The commenter also wrote that the sooner a sodomite meets his hangman, the better. (When the homosexual is dead, he can’t commit any sins, hence it’s better for him to be dead…) According to Swedish law the owner of a blog is responsible for everything written on it, but he was acquitted, partly because of technical issues. The Supreme Court judged that the texts weren’t hate speech, but a religious and biblical discussion about homosexuality.”

As Tor pointed out, even in a country where hate speech laws are enforced, strong exceptions have been made to protect religious expression. In other words, religious leaders are perfectly free to hate as long as they wrap their hatred around religious themes.

American courts, on the other hand, have consistently struck down attempts to enact hate speech laws. Which is why the Klan has been protected by civil authorities whenever they want to protest on the courthouse square.

Anti-gay extremists who warn that advancement of equality for gays and lesbians mean that their freedoms will be curtailed are not being truthful. They are either woefully ignorant of the Constitution here in the U.S. as well as events abroad, or they are lying. Take your pick.

When Rufus, aged 6, was about to open his birth day present, something unexpected fell out of the box: a “business card” from an anti-gay organization.

For those among us who don’t read Swedish, the card reads:

Homosexuals transmit AIDS when they are licking each others butt holes. What else are they doing? Visit www.amoso.se.

Dislike homosexuality, not the homosexual person.

Little Rufus’ father, Peter Karisson bought the toy at a Toys-R-Us store in Göteborg. It is still unknown how the calling card found its way into the box.

AMOSO is a Swedish acronym for “Exposing myths about sexual orientation,” and is run by Ron Linden (a.k.a. Ronnie Lindén), a Swede living in the US. His web site features all the worst examples of junk science commonly found in extremist anti-gay propaganda, including more evidence of an unhealthy fascination with “rimming” and citations of Paul Cameron’s research. In fact, the English language version reads very much like Paul Cameron’s “Medical Consequences of What Homosexuals Do” — so much so that Cameron may as well have been Lindén’s protegé. Lindén appears to misquote and misuse many of the same sometimes obscure sources that Cameron misuses, using much of the same language and methods.

Lindén is an ardent supporter of Ã…ke Green, the Swedish Pentecostal preacher who had been convicted of hate speech when he preached against homosexuality in a sermon. That conviction was overturned by the Swedish Supreme Court. Contrary to what many American anti-gay activists claim, Rev. Green was never jailed although he was sentenced by a lower court to serve one month. He remained free throughout his appeals. Sweden does not have an American-style free speech clause in their constitution. Lindén runs a web site supporting Green called akegreen.org

Let’s hope ambushing six-year-olds on their birthday doesn’t become new tactic among anti-gay extremists.

As we reported earlier, Sweden is committed to converting from its provisions for Civil Unions to gender-less marriage. The Church of Sweden, which represents the faith community of about 80% of the nation’s citizens, had previously decided that they would continue to provide legal officiation of wedding ceremonies if the law changed.

According to The Local, the Church has now announced that it supports the legal change in status

“Marriage and (same-sex) partnerships are equivalent forms of unions. Therefore the Church of Sweden’s central board says yes to the proposal to join the legislation for marriages and partnerships into a single law,” the Church said in a statement.

The church, which has performed blessings of same-sex unions since earlier this year, is in agreement with granting the civil and religious recognition simultaneously. Currently civil unions cannot be conducted in a religious ceremony.

However, it wishes to hold the term “marriage” in reserve for only opposite-sex couples.

It is fairly certain that Sweden will soon replace the Registered Partnership laws they have had in place since 1996 with legalized same-sex marriage. If they do so, then gay citizens will have the same rights to church weddings as heterosexuals.

The Church of Sweden is trying to determine their response. Although the church is decidedly pro-gay, some ministers balk at providing same-sex marriages. One option would be to separate the legal officiation of civil wedding from the blessing of couples.

Although the decision is not final and the question is likely to arise again after the law is changed, the Church voted 161 to 74 to retain it’s legal officiating capacity.

Archbishop Anders Wejryd said he expects the issue to resurface if there is a change in the law.

“Those who voted did so on the basis of current legislation. If the law changes, the issue will return,” he said.

But the Archbishop added that he was not unduly worried by the prevailing differences of opinion.

“I think the type of discussion we have had contributes to our cohesiveness. It has been an honest discussion that shows our great willingness to live together within the church. So it doesn’t worry me.

In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.

When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.

In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.

From the Inside: Focus on the Family’s “Love Won Out”

On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.

Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!

Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.

Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.

Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.

The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.